SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is a system that operates with coded signals over the communication lines to provide safe control and monitoring of remote equipment. Such a system can be combined with a data acquisition system using coded signals over the communication lines to acquire information about the status of a remote device that appears on a display and/or is being stored.
SCADA is a type of industrial control system (ICS). These are computer-based systems that monitor and control industrial processes in the physical world. SCADA differs from other ICS systems in that SCADA governs large-scale processes that can include a plurality of locations over great distances. This includes, for example, the control and monitoring of well operations.
There are currently two ways to run a SCADA network. A SCADA network can either be run using SoftPLC, i.e., PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) software running on a PC, or using “Hard PLC”, which is a PLC implemented in hardware such as, for example, PLC units supplied by Siemens.
Several examples of virtualization by various processes also exist for well operations. US 2012/173218 A1 describes the virtualization of drilling equipment with the purpose of testing equipment and detecting errors. Virtualization of PLCs or methods to achieve increased redundancy is, however, not taken into account.
In today's solutions, physical components are used for communication between servers and PLCs regardless of whether the latter are software- or hardware-based PLCs. By taking advantage of a virtual solution according to the present invention, where the PLCs are included, the system will be less vulnerable in that all communication will take place within the virtual host clusters. This reduces the possibility of a “single point of failure” such as, for example, the rupture of a communications cable.